Isaia 37:36

36 E l’angelo dell’Eterno uscì e colpì, nel campo degli Assiri, cento ottantacinquemila uomini; e quando la gente si levò la mattina, ecco ch’eran tanti cadaveri.

Isaia 37:36 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 37:36

Then the angel of the Lord went forth
From heaven, at the command of the Lord, being one of his ministering spirits, sent forth by him, as for the protection of his people, so for the destruction of their enemies; this was the same night, either in which the Assyrian army sat down before Jerusalem, as say the Jews ^F24; or, however the same night in which the message was sent to Hezekiah; see ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) :

and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and
five thousand men:
a prodigious slaughter indeed! which shows the power and strength of an angel. Josephus ^F25 says they were smitten with a pestilential disease; but other Jewish writers say it was by fire from heaven, which took away their lives, but did not consume their bodies, nor burn their clothes; but, be that as it will, destroyed they were:

and when they arose early in the morning:
those of the army that survived; Sennacherib, and his servants about him; or Hezekiah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that were besieged:

behold, they were all dead corpses;
the whole army, excepting a few; this may well be expressed with a note of admiration, "behold!" for a very wonderful thing it was.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 T. Bab. Sanhedrin: fol. 95. 1.
F25 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 5.

Isaia 37:36 In-Context

34 Ei se ne tornerà per la via donde è venuto, e non entrerà in questa città, dice l’Eterno.

35 Poiché io proteggerò questa città per salvarla, per amor di me stesso e per amor di Davide, mio servo.

36 E l’angelo dell’Eterno uscì e colpì, nel campo degli Assiri, cento ottantacinquemila uomini; e quando la gente si levò la mattina, ecco ch’eran tanti cadaveri.

37 Allora Sennacherib, re d’Assiria, levò il suo campo, partì e tornò a Ninive, dove rimase.

38 E avvenne che, com’egli stava prostrato nella casa di Nisroc, suo dio, Adrammelec e Saretser, suoi figliuoli, l’uccisero a colpi di spada, e si rifugiarono nel paese d’Ararat. Ed Esarhaddon, suo figliuolo, regnò in luogo suo.